Rwanda, like most countries in the world, has taken different prevention measures including “lockdown” (mandatory sheltering in place within citizen’s homes), social distancing, travel restrictions, closure of schools and other activities to manage the spread of the pandemic. Schools tend to be the safest places for children around the world because they are the primary conduits for recognizing and reporting child neglect and abuse, so their closures in particular put children at risk. Save the Children Rwanda is working to ensure that girls and boys (with or without disabilities) are safe in their homes and are able to exercise their rights to learn, survive and be protected. As a key part of that effort, Save the Children has teamed with GeoPoll to use that company’s software platform to conduct a 2-way SMS survey of adults caring for children in Rwanda. The goal of the survey is to establish the extent of caretakers’ support for their children’s learning and well-being while schools are closed due to the pandemic in order to respond with appropriate services and interventions.

https://www.savethechildren.org

• Rwanda

• Youth
• children

The project is highly replicable. This type of rapid data collection can be undertaken in dozens of countries globally. When administering surveys via SMS, GeoPoll can reach deep into developing country populations - without the need for Internet connectivity or smart devices - to regularly engage target populations to track the impact of interventions, external threats (such as COVID-19, Ebola, etc.) and the impact of training and information campaigns. Surveys are conducted at no cost to the respondents and can allow for reengagement of the same individuals or the same overall population over time to track impact and behavior change. Save the Children has a global network of experts who design behavior change and risk communication and community engagement campaigns. For the current partnership, the surveying is focused on the care of students at home due to COVID-19, but the surveys could be designed to gather information about any topic and GeoPoll’s platform could also be used for sending messages to support those campaigns based on the data gathered.

The project is sustainable. The COVID-19 outbreak is not only making it clear that traditional face-to-face data collection activities are temporarily impossible, it is spurring NGOs and other entities to undergo a digital transformation of their data collection methods. The use of a 2-way SMS mobile platform is the most inexpensive way for local NGOs, governments and implementers to gather reliable, frequent and accessible information to monitor, engage and inform the public and beneficiaries. GeoPoll’s platform can be configured and used at low cost in virtually any country. Save the Children’s content production methodologies can be standardized and used as a guide for content production for any technical area.

By creating digital surveys to ensure that children are treated well at home during the pandemic, this project promotes WSIS values in the community such as C3. Access to information and knowledge; C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-health; and C11. International and regional cooperation.